Masquerade
by miramiell
Summary: Two people met in a masquerade leading to a rather unique "dance". Does not really follow the actual plot of UtaPri. Also does not follow Masquerade Mirage's plot. Ai/Reiji.


Kotobuki Reiji is a famous musical artist. His moves are sleek, his voice is grand, and his good looks made girls flock onto him like a bunch of nails flocking to a magnet pole. He's friendly, easygoing, all that you could find in a popular guy. Getting his photos on the magazines is an easy feat, plus interviews about his professional as well as personal life. But there's just one question he always avoids: anything that would lead to the interviewer asking about his love life. He'd always joke around it, changing the topic, but never giving any hint about it.

Then why is he here, in a masquerade?

To find something he's been searching for all this time.

And he knew not what it's supposed to be.

In his arms was a sleek woman, a red dress winding on her curves. She is pretty and refined as any other woman here. She approached him just then, inviting him for a dance. As a gentleman, he's obliged to accept, not because he liked her. He had seen a lot of beautiful women, and this woman is just one of them. He was searching for something else entirely. As they danced, his eyes trailed off to any corners of the hall.

"May I ask you how can I call you?"

The woman's sweet, pitched voice forced Reiji to turn to her. He smiled thinly in return.

"It's Mr. K."

"It's a pleasure to dance with you, Mr. K," the woman's eyes narrowed down, her lips stretched outward, "it's Ms. N in your arms. Everyone invited by Mr. Shining seems to be related to art. Are you an artist too, perhaps?"

"I'm just your everyday musical artist. I'm not quite popular, but I have my audiences." He lied, of course.

"But I'm sure Mr. Shining invites top-board artists?" she chuckled, "I'm a composer. I compose songs for a group."

"Perhaps we can work together later on, Ms. N? That would be lovely," though he didn't exactly mean it, "it seems as your music is beautiful indeed."

"Oh, you're flattering me. Thank you," her cheeks turned hue into rosy, matching her hair.

The music went on. Reiji noticed that woman's shoes are flat, and she had a terrible time to balance out her moves. She kept stumbling after another, so he had to help her through his moves. He could pull it off easily, but that's still not enjoyable. As the music hit the chorus, the couples spun their partner in a rhythmical fall, he saw a figure passing through the dancing crowd, those cyan orbs gleaming mysteriously under the brimming yellow light. Alone, with no partner to dance with. That wasn't exactly the reason he would stop looking at his partner.

That figure bluish hair tied up on half stood up among others like a sore thumb, yet shrouded by others's shadows and lights. Those eyes under the lilac mask were certainly looking at Reiji for that second, but not inviting, just a quick glare to that man's surrounding. The moment their eyes met, Reiji froze on his trails, forgetting about Ms. N on his arms. He kept dancing in the beat however, his eyes and mind had gone somewhere else, trying to follow that man of where he headed to. The moment those bluish shade was engulfed by the crowds, Reiji felt an urge within his heart.

He had to find him.

He finished the last step of the dance with Ms. N. Though Ms. N insisted for her to accompany him a bit longer, Reiji refused. The woman's plea by saying it didn't bother her and she didn't quite have any other thing to do in the masquerade felt just like an excuse for her to get closer to him. It probably is. He kept trying to brush that woman off without offending her, while trying to find those pair of cyan eyes amongst the chattering crowd. Why couldn't he follow such a striking color on this hall with plain-colored dresses and suits and hair color? It is easy for him to please his fans, following the trend, making big hits, but not following a distinct color in the mass of masquerade.

"Mr. K, your remarks of this piece is amazing. You're truly a master artist, aren't you?" Ms. N complimented back about his remarks for the music played by the saxophonist.

"No, Ms. N. It's just a humble opinion—I'm not a master of such! Just a listener giving a piece of mind, dear."

As Ms. N kept asking a lot of things, and Reiji trying to answer it all without giving a slightest suspicion, he kept trying to find the needle in haystack called mass.

"Just where...?" he muttered unconsciously.

"What 'where', Mr. K?"

"Not a thing!" Reiji laughed, "I'm just thinking about something. Maybe it's about you?"

Ms. N blushed under her hot pink mask. 'So easy to be flattered,' he thought.

"I'll get us a drink. How about it?"

That was just an impeccable idea he just thought. He just needed to get away from now, then acted as if he lost her in all this crowd.

"Thank you, but it's okay! You don't have t—"

"I insist, Ms. N," he winked under his mask, "what would you like?"

She blushed again. "Just something non-alcoholic, I'll be fine."

With that, Reiji dashed off that woman standing on the crowd to the bar. His heart was pounding hard, his eyes trying to get a glimpse or a hint of wherever that man might be. The bar is on northwestern side of the hall, near the stage, which would be quite far from Ms. N's whereabouts. Along his way, he just didn't get any glimpse.

"Has he gone away? Or I simply missed him?" he muttered under his breath. All he's seen are dancing couples, chattering artists under masks, plus Mr. Shining laughing under that oversized, overdecorated mask with Mr. Raging, his old friend and owner of the rivaling opeřa. Those two are really a distraction. He took a detour in case he really missed him, but he found nothing.

Until he reached the bar, that is.

He felt like he had found everything. He lowered his top hat, and walked to the bar, taking a seat just beside the one he had been searching for in this hall. Up close, those eyes were really mesmerizing—an unusual color he had not seen. When he took a seat, those eyes glanced at him before turning back at the drink he clearly showed no interest at. Reiji raised his hand, ordering a drink—just his own drink, that woman's can come in later—racking his brain of what should he say as a stranger to someone.

"It's a nice party, right?"

Reiji looked at him, trying to get his attention. That was a success, but he just got a short reply.

"Yes, it is."

"Mr. Shining seriously has a load of time to hold a big party like this. But none of the invitee would perform; that'd be a shame if a great artist attended and we can't see them!"

"Yes, that'd be a shame."

Like this, he couldn't get anywhere. He could say an essay long and this man probably would just answer as short as an ant's tail.

"That hair... did you dye it?"

That man suddenly turned around, now looking head-on at Reiji. That gave Reiji a shock on the heart.

"Why are you asking that?"

"That looks cool."

"It's not dyed."

That left both of them on awkward silence. Reiji could only give an 'oh' and an awkward laugh. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before the one wearing that lilac mask said something, and Reiji's hand that's reaching to the drink the bartender gave felt like petrified.

"You are... Kotobuki Reiji, aren't you?"

"H-Huh?"

"Why would a Kotobuki Reiji be at a masquerade?"

"Because he's invited?"

"And why would he come?"

Reiji gulped, and whispered at that man, "how could you know I'm Kotobuki Reiji? I swear I had nothing striking on my clothes!"

"Oh," he tilted his head to the right slightly, "that's easy. My database could identify you easily."

A mischievous smile curled over that man's face. He stood up, towering Reiji, and lifted Reiji's chin closer to him.

"How weird, have you gone desperate?" he lowered his voice, almost whispering, "that a Kotobuki Reiji would be searching for a stranger under a mask that would be potentionally dangerous amidst a masquerade of anonymity."

He grabbed the top hat off Reiji's head, covering their side and kissed him out of the blue. The bartender was busy with the other side of the bar, and everyone else with their own conversations. He could feel something shoved down his pants—and that just made him uneasy—and those lips captured his tongue, heating him up like a frolicking fire on a hearth. Those fingers are delicate, teasing him at no mercy, keeping his moans and groans under the constant and sweet kisses.

When the man pulled himself off, Reiji started to gasp for breath, all gone from the kisses. The man curled a mischievous smile, whispering to his ear, tickling Reiji's senses.

"Perhaps this is what you seek?"

The man pulled Reiji behind the darker side of the bar, behind the pillars, only separated from the crowd with a decorative thin wall. His back hit the pillar behind him, and the man's arm completely blocking his escape.

"What are you doing—?!" Reiji squeaked.

"Nothing," the man began unbuttoning Reiji's suit, loosening his tie, "I'm just pleasing my curiosity of lust with you, Rei-chan."

Reiji fazed for a second upon hearing 'Rei-chan', that he could swear that was the sexiest thing ever rolled from that man's tongue, giving the man an opening to attack him constantly. He was certainly stronger in terms of physical build, but with that man's hands under his shirt and pants, the heat could only make him pant. Has he completely fallen under this stranger's fixation? The more he struggled to let free, the more that man pressed him against the walls, hurting his back. Before he noticed it, his suit, perfectly ironed and chosen before the party, now scattered on the floor with his tie and his shirt all open, exposing his body to all that could see. The man gripped his arms tight, though he wanted to cover his face out of embarrassment.

"You're soft," he started kissing and sucking all his way on Reiji's waist, up to his chest. Reiji squirmed, trying to push him away to no avail again. He tried to hold down his voice, not letting anyone know what is actually going on behind these wall and pillars. If anyone hears and they found out that it is Kotobuki Reiji, immorally hitting off with a stranger in public, his career and reputation would be as good as dead in that second.

He should really stop this, he thought, but instead of thinking how to escape this situation, his body followed where the man ravished. He yelped when the man cupped his buttocks, savoring his neck slowly and sucking his Adam's apple. His body is being ravaged, gently, carefully more than he would thought. When he heard his belt clanked open, he forcefully pushed the man away, his arms covering his bare, drenched body.

"S-Stop it! What do you want to do with me?" he snapped, "you... you're making me weird..."

The man yanked his collars up, snatching Reiji's mask and stomped it with his shoes. His face is now all revealed, and he was shaking more.

"You are the one who is making me weird," the man hissed, "if only you never looked at me, talked at me, knew me... this would never happen."

"Do you know what you're doing right n—!"

The man pursed Reiji with a peck on his lips. Reiji pushed him off, his limbs still shaky and unable to run away all naked without his suit and unbuttoned shirt. The man tried to approach him again, and Reiji quickly snatched the mask off his face. He felt shocked; for that man looked way younger than he would've imagine with the mask on. No, not just that he felt shocked with.

"How... how could it be you...?"

The man turned away, gathering the suit and the tie scattered on the floor and threw it to Reiji. Reiji grabbed his hand, stopping him on the track from disappearing again.

No wonder he was intrigued with this person when they first met eyes.

No wonder he felt like he found something in this man.

"Ai-Ai...?"

The man turned back, his eyes filled with frustration. He pinned Reiji to the wall, covering his sight in dark. He hissed to Reiji's ears, a bitter tone in his voice.

"So what if I am...?" that man, Ai, gently bit Reiji's neck, leaving a faint mark, as his other hand pinched Reiji's bead, now tightly up and hard. Reiji squirmed, biting his lips, trying to not let out any kind of embarrassing voice out. Now, again, he's being violated. His body jolted when a cold, slender figure touched his sphincter, scorching his senses, leaving his mind blank and confused.

"You're so sensitive. I haven't done anything."

Haven't done anything, sure! His sweat dripped, his body getting warmer and warmer. He could feel his posterior tensed up, locking that finger inside of him. The more it wriggled out, his body seemed to defy his control, tightening up all by itself. When the finger forcefully let itself out, he couldn't hold his voice again, leaking out a pitched yelp. He grasped for breath, as now he's getting nauseous.

"See, Reiji, you're the one making me weird," he removed his hand from covering Reiji's side, and kissed him on the jaw, "your voice just made me hard down there. It's weird. It has never been like this."

The masquerade isn't over yet. People are still chatting, dancing, drinking, partying. The boring jazzy music Reiji couldn't hear before has now stopped, transitioning into a gentler, sincere music played by a cello. People started leaving the bar, moving nearer to the stage to watch the cello performance, so beautifully played.

"Let's dance along, Rei-chan," he caressed Reiji's back, trailing his finger from his neck to the bottom, "until this night ends."

"Hold on—mmhf!" his sentence halted by a sudden implosion on the lower half of his body. Ai pushed himself deeper inside Reiji, moving in a circular motion, almost matching to the rhythm of the cello play. The hall was heated, by the performance the magnificent cellist, yet for Reiji, it was for the passionate dance between the two of them, behind the decorative walls and pillars, somehow without anyone noticing even the bartender. He bit his lips, holding all he felt under his breath and silent noises.

Ai yanked his shoulders, causing Reiji to accidently let out a pitched moan, "don't hold it back. Let it all out, Rei-chan," he tucked Reiji's fringes behind his ear, "no one can hear us... or do you want everyone to hear you?"

"N-No—! It's... somebody is going to see..." Reiji panted, his breath now going faster than before, his heart beating fast until it hurts him. His shaft was swollen, his tip from pinkish now stiffened to red. He felt messy, and he still couldn't get over the fact, they're doing this thing behind a fucking decorative wall, not four walls surrounding! At least there should be a bed and a door to cover him from public, he thought. Rethinking about his thought, he blushed. Now amidst all this stuff, he ended up thinking about that? He bit his lips, his hands getting a grip on the pillar's bulging threads, his sanity and consciousness now at stake.

"S-Slow down... Ai... p-please..." he begged, and that invited Ai to smirk victoriously. Ai spanked his buttocks, leaving faint red mark. A little bead of tear started running down from Reiji's eyes.

"The cellist is going to hit the climax of his performance—that means for the dance too, Rei-chan," he pressed his ear to Reiji's back, "your heart rate is increasing... have you developed a liking to this, Rei-chan?"

"I-If anyone hears me—"

"Oh, so it is out of excitement. You are excited."

"I'm not!" Reiji insisted, his buttocks felt sore, yet at the same time, something filled him up. His body kept getting warmer, and his shirt, good thing it's still on him, not lying on the floor and all messy like his suit right now, all drenched with his bodily fluid. His voice kept getting out to the point he couldn't control it anymore, even more when Ai reached his sweet point—or whatever the name is—his body shook, his limbs all paralysed, and he couldn't think straight of anything anymore. This mixed sense of a weird pleasure and excitement added with a sensational pain and fear tingled every inch of his body. He's going numb, his fingers hurt from holding to the pillar so long, yet Ai kept pushing himself in and out inside him, without giving him any break. The orchestral cello play only got more heated, the couples were dancing more passionately, gracefully under the brimming light, even Mr. Shining was dancing like calling a rain with Mr. Raging.

"Looks like the play will end soon," Ai whispered. He moved rougher and faster, as if following the heated cello play from the stage.

Reiji's consciousness was shaking. His body kept getting tensed, more inviting to Ai. "S-Stop...! Ai-Ai, stop it... at this rate... I'll... I'll...!"

The cellist played his last note of magnificent play, as Ai released his final step of the dance, and Reiji fell, unable to maintain his grip anymore. His body ached, tiredness covering each of his joint. Ai gathered Reiji's suit and tie on the floor, helped Reiji to stand up properly, fixing his clothes and tying his tie like he first saw him, then lastly, putting his mask back to his face and his top hat back to his head. He kissed Reiji for the last time before the cello play ended completely, as the crowd cheered and clapped for such an elegant play.

He combed Reiji's messy hair with his fingers, looking at his eyes deeply. "You better get going. That woman is waiting. It's never like you to make that woman wait."

He turned away, walking into the crowds again. He would disappear again, Reiji thought. Before he could stop him, Ai glanced back, stopping Reiji at his tracks.

"Don't worry, Rei-chan," he curled a thin smile, "we will meet again soon."

And with that, Ai disappeared into the crowd. Reiji lowered his top hat, covering his face that's already covered with his mask. He wasn't sure with it. He met Ai a few years ago, when he was still a student at Saotome Arts School, as fellow students. Years passed by and they never met again, despite the fact they were pretty close. He became a musical artist, though Ai went on the same path with him, they just never crossed, somehow. He never succeeded in acquired his contact information or anything. Yet if Ai said they will meet again soon... he would gladly believe that.

Sure, they met again. They actually met again. Not just the two of them, but with the bartender from the masquerade, the cellist, three months later.

In front of them is Shining Saotome, with his fancy glasses and weird speech. Apparently he recruited them all into his agency, and now, he's trying to make them do something.

"From now on, you fooouuur would be perfooorming in a groouuup!" he jumped here and there, from window to window, "as the QUARTET NIIIGHHTT!"

"QUARTET NIGHT?" the four of them asked ssimultaneously.

"Yeessss! You four are all in my masquerade, under the same night... the quartet that will shaaakeee the wooorld!"

Reiji looked to his side. The cellist, Camus, who turned out to be cold and a count; Ranmaru, the bartender who is actually a rock star, and Ai... thinking about what happened on the masquerade, he blushed, but he quickly controlled himself.

They went out from Mr. Shining's office, to the balcony showing the massive garden maze. The three others looked like they doubt that this group would work, and Reiji, who doubted it too, but just him being him, he smiled.

"Why don't we just try it out?"

The other three looked at him, and he continued.

"If this can't work out, we can always end this."

"How dare you to address me in the same level with you, fool," Camus glared at him, then quietly left the balcony.

Ranmaru gritted his teeth, "this is not ever going to work out," and left the balcony too, with even his back looked pissed and annoyed.

The two of them were left on the balcony, the sunset behind them. It was kind of awkward.

"We actually met again, huh?"

"Mhm."

"That feels strange... but it's good! We're going to have a blast as a four-man group!"

"Mhm."

All he could get from as an answer is a simple nod, as if he's back to the time he met him in the masquerade, hidden behind their masks.

"Uh, Ai-Ai—"

Ai leaned closer to him, and kissed him before he left the balcony too. Reiji touched his lips. That masquerade and what happened still lingered in him. He chuckled, and leaned back to the fence on the balcony, looking at the dawning sunset.

"Mr. Shining sure loves to do things that will blast people out of their zones," Reiji fazed over the sunset, before leaving the balcony, closing the two-paneled door behind him, into the Saotome dormitory.

\--end.


End file.
